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Union, Newton-Conover top area graduation rates

The Union County Schools had the highest percentage of high school seniors graduating in 2014 among systems in the Charlotte region, according to statistics released Thursday by the N.C. Department of Public Instruction.

A close second was the Newton-Conover district, as 16 of 23 systems in the region surpassed the statewide rate of 83.8 percent.

The numbers show that 92.6 percent of Union County Schools students who entered ninth grade in the 2010-11 academic year graduated in 2014. The Newton-Conover Schools had a 92.5 percent graduation rate.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Superintendent Heath Morrison said the CMS graduation rate of 85.2 percent beat the state number “for the first time in years.” Typically, large urban districts like CMS, with sizeable populations of students from low-income families, tend to lag behind statewide averages.

Three school systems in the Foothills also surpassed the 90 percent graduation rate – Caldwell County (90.9 percent), Catawba County (90.8 percent) and Burke County (90.3 percent).

Lowest figure in the area was the 78.6 percent graduation rate in the Rutherford County Schools.

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